Holder State: Black Arms Arisen
by Ragnarok Kraziik-Narok
Summary: In which Station Square is invaded by a pack of bloodthirsty aliens and one amnesiac black hedgehog in search of the Chaos Emeralds.
1. City of Beginnings

_'Shadow the Hedgehog...why does that name haunt me?'_

Sighing, the black hedgehog looked down at the city below.

He had been here for at least eight days. Eight days since he had woken up. Nameless. Faceless. Devoid of purpose. Ignorant to what was his past, where he was now, and what was name.

Sometimes, images came forth to haunt his days and nights. A beautiful blue eyed blonde, with a flowing sapphire dress and a familiar face, running in terror behind him. A group of armored soldiers, all wearing a eagle insignia, rushing after them. A gunshot. A blue dress stained red. And he always woke from his vision hearing himself shout out another name that plagued him. Maria.

The simple name brought a pleasant warm to his cold and aching heart, much like a mother embrace would do. Sometimes, like right now, he would just stand there, next to a tall oak tree that overlooked the hillside, and stare at the blooming city below, pondering on those two names and the flimsy fragmented memories he could remember.

Even if he itched to search outside of the forest, the unnamed black hedgehog did not dare to venture far. He stuck near his little 'territory', especially under the massive oak tree, with the small hope that whoever placed him there would come back and tell him, finally, who he was.

The only clue he had about his past was the thick black cape he had awoken in. Often times, instead of running around or looking at the tall grey structures in the distance -a city-, he would sit down and spend hours tracing the golden symbols glittering the smooth fabric. He had discovered, not to long ago, of its healing properties -he had fallen from the oak tree and dislocated his left shoulder in the process. Unable to set it, he had buried himself in the cloak and tried to sleep.

Seconds later, his shoulder gave a soft '_pop_' as it jumped back in place.

Of course, he hadn't believed a piece of fabric -a strange, glowing piece of fabric that pulsed of something ancient and familiar- had such ridiculous properties. It wasn't until he willingly broke his index, wrapped the cloak around it, and watched as the shattered bones mended faster than his own healing factor could that he finally admitted the cape was special.

The said piece of fabric was wrapped around him, hood down, as the cold October winds tried to blow him off the hillside. A dirty newspaper clung to his leg, and before it was whisked away into the sky, the amnesiac hedgehog briefly saw the bold title about a festival. He paid no mind to it, and returned to his silent pondering, watching the tall buildings with narrowed eyes.

'_Humans...why do they insist in destroying the world they live in? Pathetic.'_ He turned around toward the old oak tree, ready to curl up between its roots and pray that he wouldn't spend a dreamless night, for he needed all the fragmented memories he could obtain...

...he needed to find out who he was. He just...didn't know _how_.

The unnamed black hedgehog sighed, ignoring the unnatural way the sky darkened to a chilling obscure crimson shade with a brilliant, yellow-red hole, not unlike the eye of a cyclone. The strange clouds circled overhead, trapping the city before him in darkness. Then, a thunderous boom echoed throughout the previously clear dusk sky, followed by small objects

_'Some kind of invasion?'_ The striped hedgehog wondered, tilting his head to the side as larger dots fell down from the storm's eye, his sensitive ears hearing their annoying screeching.

The ebony colored speedster's eyes rolled in annoyance when panicked screams echoed from the great tall skyscrapers. _'How pathetic. The humans can't even protect themselves. They're a complete waste of space...'_ His musing brought a sneer to his face; his shattered memories mainly showed the tall, gangly-legged pinkish creatures doing deeds that left his stomach in knots. He did not like the humans. His instincts told him that humans could not be trusted.

But that blond girl was a human...if he hated them, why did he feel such despair when he watched her die?

From here, he could see that fires were already breaking out, and loud booms followed, with the endless shrieking of the attackers.

_Shadow..._

Black ears perked up at the throaty, deep voice. The hedgehog looked up, crimson eyes alight with weariness. He saw a small, purplish eye-like creature, moving swiftly through the air much like a octopus would in the open sea. It's red-orange shaded middle glowed brightly as it reached the nameless black rodent.

It then...projected something.

The cloaked hedgehog jumped back lightly as a pale figure appeared in front of him. It was really, really ugly, with two large bull-like horns that arched upward and three beady eyes that glowed a deep crimson red. The being had two draped arms, finished by dangerous, deformed hands equipped with claws. It wore tattered dark robes covered with odd golden trinkets, and around its rippled neck hung thick chains. It had no legs whatsoever, and floated much like the octopus-eye creature.

It stood silent, reptilian eyes were fixed on the dark furred hedgehog. Both creatures examined each other, as of trying to discover any of the other's weaknesses. The monstrous being growled and emitted a low rumbling. It took a moment for the nameless spiked rodent to realize it was the source of the voice, and it was speaking once more:

_I am Black Doom...as you see Shadow..._The thing swept its arms around, pointing at the crimson clouds and the flaming buildings behind it. The nameless hedgehog raised a eyebrow, but remained silent.

_'My name is Shadow then?'_ The creature was speaking to him, so the name that had been haunting him ever since he woke up must be his own.

As much as he wanted to ask, something told him that keeping quiet would yield more answers.

_The moment we have been waiting is now...my army, the Black Arms, is ready..._ The thing did not seem to notice or care about his mental debate, but then again, it didn't have any familiar facial features Shadow could recognize, and it's face simply came out as a monstrosity unworthy of nature.

_But I need you to do your intended purpose! The time of reckoning has arrived... Bring me the Chaos Emeralds, as promised!_

The hedgehog's eyes widened, his muscles tensing as the eye-like creature flew away. It couldn't leave now, he needed to know more. The information was too lacking for him to find the said Chaos Emeralds! What were those things and what they even looked like was unknown to him.

"Wait!" He called out to the smaller being as it rose toward the eye-like hole in the sky, completely ignoring the hedgehog filled with more question than answers shouting after it.

The newly named Shadow was left staring at the flaming metropolis below, wondering what exactly was going on as the scream of the humans grated his ears like the dying squeaks of a mouse. The spiked rodent looked at the kingdom of asphalt and blinking light in silent pondering.

If the black creatures were with this...Black Doom, and they were searching for the mysterious 'Chaos Emeralds', the said artifacts could very well be in that city below...

...that's where he should be, then.


	2. City of Fire

**I am perfectly aware that I should have updated ages ago, but before you maim me I just wanna say I got my IPad taken from me then I got a writer's block when I got it back and then I was dragged back to school. So there. Plenty of reasons.**

**Otherwise, I will update by the end of next week. Love you all!**

* * *

"Again."

The candle's flame flickered, it's contours taking a more orange fluo shade, but did not grow as a certain blue hedgehog would have liked.

"_Again_!"

Sonic huffed, his green eyes narrowed in concentration. It was useless, however, and with a defeated growl he flopped back on the grass. Vicini, who sat next to the azure speedster, shook his head as his friend finally gave up.

"Why isn't it working!" Sonic whined, crossing his arms over his face in a attempt to fight off the light headache that formed due to the exercise.

The two hedgehog sat at the back of the Thorndyke mansion's gigantic courtyard-in a human's perspective, for Sonic it sometimes felt more like a cupboard. The Ether-powered portal was just a few feet away from them, it's beautiful, swirling iridescent vortex lighting the scene with a million colors.

They had been at this for hours already; Sonic was trying to reach out for basic elemental powers Vicini's Core offered him by powering the Fire Life Plate, and Vicini was just here in case the Blue Blur achieved burning something...or _himself_ for that matter. But apart from shifting the candlelight's color to a bright apricot and making it dance on top of the candle, trying to reach his dormant fire powers was useless.

"How about you try using the Water Plate?" There was a double flash of orange light as the fire sprite teleported into Ella's prized kitchen and flashed back besides the skulking sapphire, this time with a glass of water. One that, judging from the indignant shout coming from a old male inside the massive building, belonged to someone already.

But it wasn't like the hedgehog duo cared anyways.

Vicini set the cup on the thick grass and blew out the candle with a flick of his wrist. "Come, try with the water." The elemental said, while trying to not laugh at how childish the azure looked by lifting one arm and looking at hims with thoughtful eyes.

Sonic glanced between the goblet and the deceptively calm-looking and inexpressive apricot hedgehog. Finally the young hero rolled back on his behind, deciding that laying around and being gloomy due to the fact that he couldn't make a fire grow with his mind was a rather dark way for him to spend the day.

"I already worked with it. Not much I can do for now, not until I get another Core to fuel the Water Plate." The Blue Blur sighed, scratching his left ear idly.

"Really? I didn't see you practice."

"I did it away from civilization. You know', so I don't blow up stuff." Vicini nodded wisely.

"Smart." The orange hedgehog said, being a very knowledgeable hedgehog in that department. From the corner of his eyes he was watching the sun fall down from the sky, darkening the later and bringing out...dark clouds. Very, very creepy and unnatural dark-red clouds that made Vicini apprehensive, especially with the slow rise in ambient Chaos Energy, something his friend could not feel as well as he did. Tensing slightly at the sensation, the Elemental Spirit tried to not let it show. Thankfully, Sonic was not the smartest hog around and didn't notice it. "What can you do?"

His azure friend looked at the water trapped in the glass and made a flicking motion with his left wrist similar to how the fire spirit put out the candle's flame. A small blob of water rose out of the cup...and hit a unprepared Vicini straight in the face.

The orange sprite stumbled away, surprised by the sudden attack. Vicini spluttered indignantly as the younger Ether-wielder crackled evilly at his misfortune.

"You're going to regret that!" The dynamic duo rolled around the Thorndyke property, Sonic mainly trying to defend himself from the blue-eyed sapien as the later hovered over him threateningly, the goblet dangling above his unprotected head.

"Hard hard. Find a better war cry!" It was at that precise moment the Element Spirit of Energy was able to grab both of his charge's wrist and pin them above his spiky blue head, effectively rendering the azure helpless and unable to protect himself. The spirit looked down at the captive hero with narrowed blue eyes that shone with mischievousness.

"How about this; give up and you don't get drenched." Sonic's eyes glowed defiantly.

"_Never_."

"Can't say you weren't warned."

"Oh fu-" The ultimatum not working, Vicini tilled the cup over the squirming Blue Blur's said hero yelped as the cold water wormed its way into his nose, ears, mouth and quills, the cold substance a shock to his nervous system.

Irritated and half-drowning, Sonic, ears floppy against his skull, pitifully crawled away from the orange spirit with what leftover dignity he still held -as soon as the said being stopped laughing long enough to let go of his wrists. The sapphire, now a safe distance from Vicini, blushed up to his ears in shame as his orange friend continued laughed behind him.

"Bastard..."

"You started the whole fight an-" However Vicini's reply was going to end, it was covered by loud, horrible screams of fear.

Both Ether-wielding hedgehogs stopped their bickering immediately and whirled around toward the source of the cries. Vicini's hands were engulfed in flames, while Sonic looked ready to sprint, using his speed as a weapon. They watched in shock as the dark clouds turned into a sinister red shade, and creatures began to fall out from the eye of the unnatural storm toward the helpless citizens of Station Square.

Sonic immediately jumped in action.

"Get Tails and the others from Mobius!" The hedgehog started running toward the entrance of the mansion, and his apricot friend was already turning toward the Ether Portal. "Tell them to go search for Eggman's location! The fat egg's got probably something to do with it! Keep your side of the link open, I'm gonna go find Chris! The idiot is at school and I really don't want to suffer his mom's wrath if something happens to him! "

Vicini shuddered as he made his way to the shimmering iridescent vortex. Sonic was right to go search for his human before going to save the world. Over the few weeks he had been here, the Elemental had learned one valuable thing:

Lindsey Thorndyke was a person to be feared. Especially if messing with her child.

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Shadow barreled through the streets of the city, vivid crimson eyes meticulously scanning each and every corner of his surroundings in search of the stones that were the key to his forgotten memories.

Distraught humans trying to escape the battlefield the city was turning into were placidly ignored by the black furred individual. They weren't given even a glance. In the dark warrior's fragmented mind, he knew they were next to worthless, and that they wouldn't be of little use. It was something that he believed, as if his brain had it deeply cemented inside of him, not as a simple notion, but as a fact.

Abandoning the spiraling road of thoughts concerning his hatred for the hairless over the glorified primates, Shadow turned to his current needed to find the 'Chaos Emeralds', yet...

...the black hedgehog had no idea when to start. None at all.

Emeralds were gemstone...do he was looking for a set of jewels? But what kind? What coloration? Green, red, blue, yellow or hell, _pink_? How could he even find them?

'Black Doom, you couldn't have made it more difficult.' He thought back at the nightmarish leader of the 'Black Arms' and nearly shivered. Thought he didn't. Because deep inside something told him he, Shadow the Hedgehog, did not shiver.

What had he been before anyways? That question was just one in the million that swarmed the amnesiac hedgehog as he skated down a large street, his hover shoes, shattering around him what glass panels that were still intact with his sheer speed and leaving dark scorching marks on the asphalt ground. He wasn't normal, that he knew with unwavering faith...but other than small, fleeting feelings, he remembered nothing about himself.

The city was chaos personified.

The Black Arms had descended upon the primates mercilessly. Giant black-skinned beasts with thin crimson marking pullulated the streets, skies and buildings in swarms. The humans were stumbling in the streets rather than hiding insides the structures, and a azure dot was coming

The hedgehog's eyes narrowed when he spotted the blue...blur? He tried to get a better look at the creature, but it was zipping around far too quickly for him to examine. It was knocking around the hulking black creatures, bouncing from alien to alien at speeds only Shadow himself could reach.

A force suddenly came from his left and knocked him to the ground, smashing his head against the hard floor. Hissing at the headache that threatened to form, Shadow looked up in time to see one particularly large, humanoid Black Arm point it's weapon at two small, cowering humans. Humans that, from their facial structure and stature, were no more than over ten years of age, their blue eyes wide and tearful.

_She looked at him one more time, eyes the color of sapphires brimmed with tears. He was trapped inside the capsule, red eyes wide and pleading. Thundering bangs , similar to the ones coming from his chest, echoed from the metallic door. Cold, heartless male voices ordering for the door to be opened. Maria did not glance at the door she jammed to buy them time._

_She was solely fixed on Shadow. Shadow, who was slowly dying in the inside as the inevitable neared closer. Don't let her do this. Gods, anyone. Don't let her do this!_

_Her lips moved, her melodious voice speaking words that for some reason his head could not compute. Her tears doubled as he banged the reinforced glass, his eyes widening even further in panic as he spotted the mechanical door snap open. Tall men stood at the entrance of the escape chamber, armored to the teeth with weapons._

_One held a pistol aimed straight at his friend's head._

_"Step away from the panel." On their helmet, a single word: G.U.N._

_Maria's eyes narrowed in determination. Her small hand slammed against the release button._

_And she feel, golden hair clashing with the red of her blood._

Shadow could only feel one thing.

Rage.

It flowed through his system like burning oil, igniting his desire to main the Black Arm in the most brutal way possible. To kill it, to have it whimpering under his feet, broken and bleeding out on the street like a dying rat.

The large alien hadn't expected the black hedgehog to retaliate; it shrieked in surprise as the speedster's fist hit it's face, the said warrior's eyes filled with hatred beyond compare. Blood spurting from its wound, the monstrous creature stumbled back, weapon falling from its grubby hand with a clatter that was drowned in the mist of the screams and explosions. The following roar, however, was not.

"CHAOS SPEAR!"

The sickening crunch that followed when the alien's skull cave inwards under the fiery projectiles felt gratifying.

Letting the monster's blood and brain matter pool in the street, the red-striped hedgehog turned around to look at the young human he had just saved, only to find her gone. The rage was quelled in seconds. Shadow looked away from the spot where the girl once laid shivering in fear. Maybe it was better if she was gone. He didn't know what he could have done if the child had been still cowering on the destroyed road...

The war-cry screech that came from his right and, in a manner pretty much similar than a few seconds ago, Shadow was knocked to the ground by a tall, muscled Black Arm. This time, however, it seemed much more deliberate than the accident that happened before. His head slammed hard against the tough pavement of the road and the dark colored hedgehog growled under his breath, shifting on his knees to pick himself up.

It was at that moment the blue blur he had seen a few minutes ago proceeded to run him over.

xxxxxxxx

Sonic blinked, but neverless kept sprinting through the chaotic city, occasionally taking out a group of aliens as he made his way toward his human friend's school. He could have sworn he felt something squishy under his feet.

_'Probably a carpet.'_ The Blue Blur shook his head in denial while he punched one of the red and black aliens. Throwing the defeated creature's discarded laser gun at a passing citizen, he accelerated. There was only a slim chance he just run on some poor soul.

_'And if that was true, I'm sure they would forgive me.' _The sapphire reasoned with himself, unknowing to the fact he had stomped on the **last** who would ever do so. He should do a few stunts like these without landing with a fine. He was a hero after all, and the world definitively couldn't save itself.

If that was the case he'd be out of a job, and in a lot of trouble.

xxxxxxxxx

Chris had been having the most normal, boring day he could imagine.

At morning he chatted with his friends and and watched as Danny tried, unsuccessfully, to chat up a brunette girl until she got tired and called her testosterone-filled boyfriend over. That had been the most interesting part of the day. After that it got so boring the blond teenager could barely keep his brain from committing suicide by falling off his desk.

He had received several test from last week -full grades, like always- listened the teachers spew facts and other things he already knew, slept a lot, got reprimanded for that, spend the most part of lunch trying to find a book in the gigantic library for his friend Helen. Now, the duo were working on a class project, and the main reason they stayed at the campus instead of going into Chris' monster of a house was due to the fact Ella had begun a systematic cleaning of the villa, which meant the smallest microscopic piece of dirt entering the house would lead to a rather grisly death in the form of a few kitchen appliance and a broom.

Basically, Chris would do anything for a bit of action. Or to get out of the school grounds.

Getting thrown aside by a stampede of students leaving the campus due to the big black aliens falling for the sky was not something he would do, however.

He was able to find shelter with a terrified Helen, a pissed off Francine -that reached them in the middle of the chaos while being dangerously armed with a baseball bat- and Danny, who wisely cowered being the redhead as she mightily swung her weapon at the black and red skinned aliens' skull. Along with a couple of screaming girls and boys, they were able to barricade themselves at the library building, a old thing made of bricks and moss that blended well with the other nearby buildings.

Chris did his best to help with the mountain of desk, chairs and other apparel, but due to the fact he was made for speed rather than strength, he quickly gave up and sat back. The rest of the boys, minus two cowering scrawny boys in the corner who seemed to be having a small panic attack and the blond teenager himself were finishing with the pile blocking the door, while Helen tried to calm the rest of the group down and Francine scouted the small building, blue eyes narrowed dangerously and her baseball bat ready to send the little buggers to oblivion.

It can be said that when the barricade was finished, everyone felt relieved. "That's the last one." One of the boys panted, throwing a desk on top of the pile with the help of another burly student.

That was the exact moment when Karma decided that the lower portion of the wall left to the barricaded entrance had to be blown open.

The girls shrieked as they spotted a small figure, running for cover behind the boys. Chris yelped as Francine rushed past him, wielding her baseball bat like judgement day had come. The redhead raised it high, before slamming it down on the alien's forehead.

Who yelled out a string of rather inventive, but earthly curses with a voice four members of the group, including the red-haired attacker, knew very well.

"Oh crap! Sonic!" Francine's eyes widened and she let go of her bloodied weapon, dropping to her knees next to her unfortunate victim. Chris rushed over in panic, quickly realizing this wasn't one of the aliens, but rather a young sapphire hedgehog that was currently seeing little Eggmans dancing in front of his eyes. From the looks of it he was rather dazed by the way he had fallen to his hands and knees and was blinking confusedly.

"What... did... _I do to you_..." The blue speedster whined weakly, shaking his spiky head in a attempt to clear his vision. Francine was apologizing profusely for the pointless attack, her bat discarded somewhere to her left.

Chris kneeled down to his mobian friend's level and promptly shook him. "Hey Sonic! Snap out of it!"

And the azure did as told, shaking his head repeatedly before blinking, lucid again. "Ouch!" And clutching his head with a wince. "Next time, don't hit before you know who it is." Sonic glared half-heatedly at Francine, who huffed despite the red tint on her freckled cheeks.

"Next time, don't blow walls open because the door doesn't work."

Sonic rolled his eyes, a mischievous gleam in them. "What am I supposed to do, ring the bell?" Everyone chuckled at the sarcastic remark.

Suddenly a loud buzzing sound came from Sonic's head.

"What the...?" The hedgehog blinked, briefly contemplating why in the name of Lightos the disheveled jungle of blue spikes he called quills were suddenly signing a happy tune. It took him a brief moment to realize it was in fact something inside them.

_"Sonic? Can you hear me?" _A old, yet energetic voice called out from the small wrist-band-like machine that lay in the hero's hand.

"Grandpa?!" Chris exclaimed disbelievingly as a small black, winged alien entered from the hole. Before Sonic could finish it off with a well aimed spindash Francine was already on it, smacking her bat over the thing's head like no tomorrow.

Joyous laughter came from the tiny communicator. "_Chris, thank god that little furball found you! Are you alright?!"_

"Fine as I'll ever be. Got Francine with us, so were alright." Chris shrugged with a small smile, cringing each time he heard the sickening squelch and pitiful whines coming from the small alien getting maimed by the young red-head. A quick look around informed him that everyone else was in fact doing the same, Sonic included.

_"Oh. Well, that explains a lot."_ It seemed as if Chuck realized what the squishy sounds came from. _"Anyways why did I call...? Ah yes! Sonic, hows the city? I can't see much from the house, but it doesn't look like they're having a festival."_

Sonic sighed, suddenly looking very gloomy. His ears flopped sadly, and his emerald eyes seemed to darken. " Not good. I tried to save as much people as I can, but they just keep coming! It never stops! And I can hold them off, nor be everywhere at the same time..."

A loud thumping sound came from the com-link, as if the old scientist was banging his head against a wall. Sonic looked at the floor, seemingly trying to stop himself from groaning at the human's antics.

"_Of course, you and your stupid hero complex."_ A sigh came from the device. _"Don't worry you furball, you'll find their leader and beat him up like you always do."_ This time a chuckle was heard. "_Chris, where and how many people are you with?"_

The said boy quickly responded, the twenty or so students behind him shifting uneasily at the following muffled curse coming from the machine. "_Okay, just stay where you are. As much as I believe in Sonic, he can't take care of you all. I have been talking with a few...acquaintances who work in the military and I think I can in a few favors. I'd be there with a escort in approximatively one hour."_

"Roger that." Chris said with a nod, even if his grandfather could not see it.

"_And Sonic? Get your ass back to the mansion. Tails wants to talk to you._" The blue hedgehog snorted at the way Chuck spoke, but otherwise bid the elder man farewell. With a press of a button the com-link was turned off and quickly stuffed back back into the mass of blue spikes.

"Well," The blue hedgehog turned around and bounced toward the hole he had created. "...see you guys later!"

"Just one thing Sonic..." The azure hedgehog turned around to meet Chris' stare, one eyebrow raised questionably.

"What is it?"

Chris cocked his head to the left, a similar expression of musing on his face. As if he was contemplating if he should inform him of something.

"You have a lump on your head."

Seconds later, laying on the floor in agony with a throbbing head that had a sneaker print on it, Chris decided he shouldn't have said anything and kept his mouth shut, and that his blue friend seriously needed a trip to the psychologist.

Meanwhile, a worn-out Danny pointed the hole their blue friend had created in the wall. The younger teen looked up at him, pleading silently to not be blamed for what just happened.

"Chris, he came for you. You're sealing the damn thing."

The blond boy groaned, letting his head fall back on the ground as Helen patted his back apologetically as best as she could from her wheelchair.


	3. City of Coincidences

**Well this is uploaded somewhat too close from the dead line...oh well, you'll make do with what I give ya! I've just been playing a lot of Monster Hunter Freedom Unite for IOS, and I'm currently raging against the goddamn Kushala Daora. I can't seem to beat the big meanie -_- If anyone plays MHFU, please help, I use a blade and sword or a bow, so if you have strategies, it must be with those. Oh and what armor should I wear...I keep getting owned... :(**

**Anyways, I'll stop with the rambling now.**

* * *

Shadow rose from the cracked, and very much uncomfortable road he had been squashed against. His mind was still going over what just happened.

_Someone had ran him over._

A lone Black Arm crawled toward him, dark lips pulled back in snarl as it reached over to its prince -only to receive a luminous spear of energy right in the chest. It crumpled on the ground wheezing for several seconds until it went still. Shadow brushed the dust and grim off himself and walked away from the site, uncaring of the dead creature belonging to the race he was supposed to side with. He did not care about the so called Black Arms. Nor the humans. Right now his mind was set on his forgotten memories...and his need for revenge.

_Someone_ was going to pay dearly.

And it wasn't just the alien that was going to suffer.

He made his way through the streets, occasionally killing Black Arms as they kept hissing and crawling toward him. The few humans that were armed spared him a disbelieving

He had to wonder why...

"SHADS!"

Then, to his horror, something fairly large was suddenly _hugging him from behind._

It was large, and unbearably too _alive_ and too damn _close_ to him! With a snarl Shadow whirled around and punched whatever creature dare hug him from behind to the ground.

It turned out to be a blue hedgehog, with large green eyes, wearing a pair of gloves and red shoes, and possessing a peach muzzle...and currently rubbing his cheek with a wincing expression.

The amnesiac hedgehog raised a eyebrow when a mumbled 'I was right...' came out of the fallen hero. He filed it for later; right now he was going to make the creature pay for such a rude and bold gesture.

"Damn Shadow, that hurts!" The younger whined. "I know I deserved it, but come on!"

"Who do you think you are to dare approach me, hedgehog?!" Shadow snarled like a aggravated lion, his hands crackling with golden sparks of a Chaos energy.

"Wait what...?" The blue hedgehog's confused face fell to a frown.

"Oh."

He suddenly leaped at the Ultimate Lifeform, who yelped as the younger speedster grabbed his spiked head, lowered it down to his level, and examined it carefully. Shadow snarled. No one did this to him and got away in one piece!

He was about to summon a flight of Chaos Spear to banish the blue fiend back to Hell where he belonged, when the smaller male said something that made him freeze.

"Yup. That's one big bump right there." The hedgehog, Sonic, tapped the small scar on Shadow's forehead with a thoughtful look on his face, completely oblivious that his words had stopped the darker warrior from severely maiming him. "For Lightos' sake, do you always have to come back from the dead with your mind missing?" The hedgehog paused. "Actually, for the next time this happens, I would prefer it if your head wasn't missing, rather your memory."

Shadow stumbled away from the sapphire annoyance, eyes widening in surprise.

_How does he know about my missing memories?_

"Who the hell are you, rodent?"

The azure hero sighed dramatically, as if the world was out to get him, paying no mind whatsoever to the Chaos energy flaring around the other's tightly closed fists.

"I'm Sonic the Hedgehog; also known as Blue Blur, Blue Annoyance, Blue or Faker!" The younger of the duo bowed dramatically in a way that made Shadow's left eye twitch in irritation. "The last one you gave it to me, ya' know." The blue annoyance huffed. "Not a very imaginative one either, but we'll make do with whatever comes out of your disturbingly short imagination."

**!SLAM!**

Shadow watched emotionlessly the smaller hedgehog's form twitch on the ground, the bump he had previously noticed on the speedster's forehead darkened by the bruising the black hedgehog caused.

It took a full minute for the other to get up, but when he did, the bruised sapphire whined pitifully as he picked himself up, a single gloved hand flying up to his injured forehead. He winced, hissing in pain, for the skin had become highly sensitive and painful at touch. That was probably going to stay there for a while.

"This must be karma...I knew I stepped on someone on the way here..."

The other hedgehog went still -and if the blue one decided to pay more attention to the amnesiac speedster's expression, he would see the smoke coming out of the black warrior's ears. And, it seemed as if the hedgehog noticed Shadow it, along with the twitchy eyes lids.

Sonic blinked, sweatdrops forming on his face as the realization took hold. "Wait, you're the one I ran over?"

A pregnant pause.

**!SLAM!**

Sonic could only sniff in the corner as the lump on his forehead slowly evolved from a pale purple to dark blue.

xxxxxxxx

"I wonder when Chuck's gonna be back."

"Helen, as much as I love you, shut up. Asking and wondering when our knight in wrinkly armor is going to come will just lengthen the wait."

The said incapacitated girl blinked blankly for a moment and glanced questioning lay at Francine. "How do you know that?"

"You can say personal experience." The red-head said with a sight, leaning against a bookcase.

The four friend were standing at the entrance of the library, guarding the door drowned in tables, chairs and every furniture available in the building. A newly patched hole next to the entrance was covered in a similar fashion. Danny was sitting against the bookshelf, while Helen lay in her wheeled chair and Chris leaned against the said metallic contraption, allowing himself a bit of rest after all the work he had been forced to do.

A few feet away, the rest of the rag-tag group did their best to be comfortable, even though screams and unearthly roars came from outside the library. There was even a brown-haired girl with pig-tails that had picked up a book from the ground and casually started to read, apparently uncaring of the sounds coming from outside.

"For me it's the other way around. For example, I talk about Sonic and the little rat conveniently shows up." Chris mused with a grimace.

Danny tried to reprimand a chuckle. "Like the time we were talking on the phone and he happened to be in our conversation?"

Chris went red. "The little furball decided it would be fun to dump warm water on my feet. I nearly wet the bed due to that bastard."

The other three burst out laughing while Chris banged his head against his hand, unable to keep the memory from rushing back. He was distracted however from that awful memory by a shout coming from the other group of teenagers:

"Hey Christopher, when's you uncle coming to get us?!"

Chris sighed, mentally asking the universe . "Do I look like a fortune teller?" The other boy stared. The blond rolled his eyes and made strange motion with his hands. "I sense he is near..." The teen said with a mysterious, slightly ominous undertone that left the three other chuckling ant the other student raising a eyebrow in confusion. "How about...now!"

"CHRIS, ARE YOU IN THERE!?"

Francine stared. As did everyone.

"Well, speak of the devil and he shall appear...?"

Helen nodded sagely. "At least he didn't bring your parents."

"HONEY?! MOM AND DAD ARE HERE!" A pregnant pause as all four teen slowly processed what they just heard.

Francine then groaned and Chris slammed his head repeatedly against a bookshelf, as if trying to lose a few neurons so he could forget about the whole event. Danny just watched with mirth as the overprotective Thorndyke parents burst through the main entrance, knocking away the barricade with what seemed to be a relatively banged up armored car.

"Helen, _did you have to?!"_

xxxxxxxx

"AND I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO BELIEVED YOU WERE STILL ALIVE!"

"LIKE I GIVE A DAMN WHAT YOU THINK, YOU UNUSABLE BAG OF FLESH!"

Heads, alien and human alike, turned around just in time to see two blurs zip by. The wind caused them to be thrown aside, and more than a few black-skinned aliens tried to intervene, only to have their skulls popped open by either a Chaos Spear or a well placed punch.

Sonic stopped in mid run, and the black hedgehog followed, glancing questionably at the blank expression on the other's face. "Did you just call me useless?" The younger bit his lip, and Shadow blinked in surprise. The blue hedgehog looked almost as if he was about to cry...

"BASTARD!" A loud hum was what warned Shadow, with reflex he didn't knew that existed, that he had to dodge.

Instinctively letting those reflexes take over, the black hedgehog ducked.

Crimson eyes flew wide as a ball of iridescent energy sailed right through the area where his head had been just seconds before. His eye narrowed as the orb hit a group of Black Arms...and promptly disintegrated the black-skinned, armed invaders with a bright flash.

Anyone other than Shadow would have stared and gapped at the destruction. "Idiot! That almost killed me!"

The sapphire fiend shrugged.

"You always dodged it before."

Shadow felt like reaching over and snapping that tiny blue neck.

It was at that moment, when he was about to walk over to the cobalt menace and actually do it to save himself from a future headache, that a large metallic contraption sped right between them and crashed into a wall.

Both barely avoided a collision with the giant metal vehicle -a car, Shadow's fragmented memory suggested. He barely picked up the smaller hedgehog's yelp of surprise, too busy watching as the contraption finished its course with a tremendous crash.

The wheeled menace zipped by them and slammed against a store's front, it's driver send out of the window and into the building's window, breaking it and staining what little was left attached to the windowsill with red.

Shadow stared, blinking when he felt... a peculiar _pull_ toward the destroyed car. It was a tug, a strange yet familiar humm that called out to him from the vehicle. Ignoring the blue hedgehog running for the driver's prone form, the darker walked over to the battered vehicle. Amongst the wreck, the black hedgehog noticed a mysterious, emerald green glow.

Shadow tilted his head to the side as the strange stone hummed, glowing fiercely in his grasp.

_"He will destroy them all...I created the best weapon science can offer, the Ultimate Lifeform! Shadow will bring down those monsters when the time is right..."_

_"But Grandpa, wasn't that Shadow-kun's secondary role?"_

_"Yes, Maria. That was what I had to agree to if they would fund my research...soulless military dogs, they forget what science is actually about! Once he's finished, I'll show them all, Shadow is no mere weapon! He is made to be perfect!"_

"What the...?! What's a Chaos Emerald doing here?! Wait, that's the one Tails had found at the park! How did it get here...?" Sonic, having returned to his side once he realized the driver was already gone, gaped as he saw the green stone his rival held tightly in his grasp, completely unaware to the memories unfolding in his eyes. The hedgehog's emerald eyes narrowed and he hissed threateningly, his mind already whirling and making plans for revenge. "Rouge came over yesterday...that little sneak thief...!"

Shadow did not respond, his mind still dealing with the fact he had obtained his memories from the giant research station he had been created in, the wonder of science that was the ARK. And also of the fact he knew now that he a Emerald practically on his lap.

"We should go bring it to Tails." The blue hedgehog was about to sprint off when he realized the other wasn't following. "Shadow?"

Crimson eyes looked up from the glowing emerald stone. "I have other things to do, hedgehog."

"Oh. Alright then. Give me the Emerald, I'll bri-"

"No. Who said I was going to help you?"

_It's the only thing that can bring my memories back._

"Shads...don't to this." The sapphire hedgehog raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "As much as I like a verbal debate -well don't actually, that's Tails' field-, this is not the time to-" Anything else he tried to say came short when a well-aimed fist hit him in the cheek, sending him sprawling into the floor.

The Blue Blur rolled several times before coming to a stop, battered body aching. He had almost forgotten how devastating Shadow's strength was. With a wince he pulled himself up, hand flying up to his injured cheek as he did so.

The Ultimate Lifeform watched him coldly, his stare unwavering. As if he didn't care that he cowardly attacked the other by surprise.

_Alright. He wants to do this, waste my time while people are dying, I'm not holding back. _Sonic grit his teeth and let his hand fall to his side.

"Alright." Emerald eyes narrowed as Shadow slowly pulled the Emerald into his quills for safety. "You picked the wrong time to fight, Shadow!" The blue hedgehog charged. Using his shoulder, he barreled into the taller male, knocking both of them over and making the other collide head first into the asphalt.

Shadow's head slammed into the concrete and the black furry snarled, pulling his hand back and summoning the fleet of glowing projectiles he was well known for:

"Chaos Spear!"

Sonic, from his sprawled position on the ground, barely saw the dangerous lights coming. He rolled sideways, wincing at the sickening crash the spears of Chaos energy made against the road. Pulling himself up he charged at Shadow, who was picking himself up, but this time he rolled up into a tight ball, quills raised high and ready to tear into his opponent.

The black hedgehog did the same, however. The Ultimate Lifeform propelled himself toward the younger hero with his shoes and curled into a ball of red and black spikes.

The two projectiles impacted with a loud thud and were send flying back. In a similar, near mirror perfect motions, the two hedgehog unfurled just long enough to charge at each other once more. The results were the same, however, and both pulled back, landing on their feet with perfect equilibrium.

Irritated crimson meet angry emerald. The blue hedgehog and the dark warrior charged, hands glowing with iridescent and gold colors respectively.

But then, there was a bright flash of light, and Sonic found himself charging at nothing.


End file.
